Names DO Hurt

By Lynda Bradley, Licensed Professional Counselor

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me.” Some cite this as a children’s rhyme and some an Old English adage sited in 1862. I would strongly suggest humans have always known that names can and do hurt. Wars have escalated due to name-calling. Lives, have been destroyed due to name-calling. Name-calling has the potential to trigger strong negative emotions. Social media is ripe of exam Want to add a caption to this image? Click the Settings icon. ples of detrimental results due to name-calling.

Are you asking yourself, “Why is she telling us something we already know?” My goal is to provide evidence of how detrimental name-calling can be for all of us. There is a school of psychology called Psycholinguistics. Psycholinguistics is the study of the mental aspects of language and speech. It is primarily concerned with the ways in which language is represented and processed in the brain. In other words, the words we hear, the words we use to express thoughts have an effect on our thoughts.

The words we use to express how we feel about ourselves have significant control of our perception of ourselves. The words others use to express how they feel about us have significant control of our perception of ourselves.

Season your thoughts with the spices of encouragement, resilience, comfort, hope, and love. Let your life taste like a glorious cake.